Fertilizer Unaffordable

From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed more than 5,000 farmers and ranchers across the country about the rapidly increasing price of fertilizer.

Farm Bureau economist, Faith Parum says the survey found an overwhelming majority of survey respondents said they can’t afford all the fertilizer they need …

PARUM … “Fertilizer purchasing patterns are different by region, and so, in the Midwest, it's more normal to pre-book your fertilizer. So, over 67 percent of our farmers in the Midwest pre-booked their fertilizer, compared to only 19 percent in the South, and so we're really seeing regional differences, and farmers who didn't pre-book really got hit by those price increases.”

Parum says the differences in regional purchasing patterns are related to the commodities farmers grow as well as the overall differences in the farm economy.

She says those fertilizer increases are combining with rising fuel prices and squeezing bottom lines further …

PARUM … “One, we're seeing again those increases in fertilizer prices, but we're also seeing an increase in fuel prices. So, this continues to tighten margins for farmers and ranchers across the country. Even if the conflict stopped today, and we saw normal shipments resuming, it would take a while for those prices to come back down to normal. So, we're going to see the impacts of this for a few months ahead.”

To learn more, go to the Farm Bureau website at www.fb.org .